Suspect In Mecca Robbery Caught, Escapes

The two-hour manhunt ended at the Arabian Mobile Home Park in Indio. The suspect holed up inside of a home there. Riverside County Sheriff's deputies, along with Indio PD, surrounded the area.

"(Police) told us get out of here, stay inside. They let out the dogs, they pull(ed) out the guns," said Rudy Macias, a neighbor, who described the scene.

Police had a standoff with the same man earlier in the day. Police say he is Jose Angel Ramos, 19, of Mecca.

Ramos was one of two men arrested after police received a call of a home invasion robbery in Mecca Thursday morning. Police say the suspects stole cash and a red Honda Prelude. La Quinta police later spotted the stolen car and tried to pull it over. Police say Ramos, and his passenger, led them on a chase through multiple cities. They were caught in Thermal.

Jose Adrian Lopez, 19, of Mecca was also arrested.

Ramos was taken to the Riverside County Sheriff Indio Station for questioning which is routine, said Herlinda Valenzuela, a Riverside County Sheriff's spokesperson.

Before getting booked into jail, police say Ramos escaped.

Ramos was in waist chains, said Valenzuela. Valenzuela would not go into detail when asked how Ramos was able to escape.

"That is part of investigation," she replied.

This isn't the first escape. You may remember, in October 2009, four prisoners busted out of a Riverside County Sheriff's corrections van on its way to court. The Sheriff's department said changes were made to prevent an escape from happening again. We were also told a complete investigation was conducted.

We asked Valenzuela how another escape was able to happen?

"That's a completely different incident. I can't relate one to the other. All I can tell you is we did have an escape today and the suspect is in custody, fortunately," she responded.

Ramos was re-arrested around noon. Nobody was hurt in Thursday's incident. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is investigating.